Archive

According to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) statistics, 2013 was the fourth straight year when charges alleging unlawful retaliation by employers was the leading type of discrimination alleged. Retaliation claims accounted for 41.1% of the charges filed with the EEOC in 2013, up three percent from 2012. Retaliation is now the most common type of discrimination alleged nationally, topping both race and gender. What are retaliation claims and what steps can employers take to reduce their risks?

MBBP’s Employment Law Clip Series provides quick, easy-to-digest snapshots of common Employment issues, as well as practical information on how to avoid complicated, expensive and time-consuming pitfalls. Visit our YouTube page to see all Employment Law Clip videos.

The success of a company often relies on its ability to attract and retain key employees, and to safeguard their know-how, customer relationships and trade secrets. To this end, many companies put in place non-competition agreements with their employees at the time of hire and assume that these agreements remain enforceable even if changes occur to the employee’s job. However, recent Massachusetts trial court decisions confirm that is not always so. The “material change doctrine” can be invoked by former employees to void non-competition agreements signed at the inception of employment, which may leave an employer’s customer relationships, i.e., “goodwill,” and confidential proprietary information exposed to misuse and misappropriation. Today, former employees are raising this defense more often and with more success.

MBBP’s Employment Law Clip Series provides quick, easy-to-digest snapshots of common Employment issues, as well as practical information on how to avoid complicated, expensive and time-consuming pitfalls. Stay tuned for the next topic on Restrictive Employment Agreements.